More Like Family
by Sorida
Summary: Prime: Set after Episode 26. Bumblebee had been the last one Optimus Prime saw before entering the Ground Bridge. He was only a kid and the Prime was like a father. When the family suffers a loss this deep, it's the youngest member who's most affected.


_Summary: Episode 26 spoilers for TF Prime: As soon as he looked into his optics, Bumblebee knew it was gone. Optimus had given everything he had for the planet as he just sat there, doing nothing of importance. The truth was, he was a kid…and Optimus had been his father. Primus, why did everything have to get so screwed up?_

_A/N: Ok, I just watched Episode 26 and I just have to say HOLY PRIMUS, IT WAS SLAGGING EPIC AND I ALMOST CRIED LIKE I DID IN THE LAST EPISODE AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR SEASON 2 AND WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO WITHOUT OPTIMUS? Now that that's out of my system, back to the story: I couldn't help but notice the sad "kicked a puppy" look Bee gave Prime, so I decided to do another insight on Bee. I don't know how well this came out, so…yeah. Sorry if it's complete slag._

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><p>As soon as they entered the spark chamber ("entered" meaning Bulkhead knocked down the door with his wrecking ball), he knew they were far too late. Bumblebee's joy in seeing the empty spark chamber was immediately snuffed out as he took a better look at the situation. Megatron and Optimus stood side-by-side, neither making a hostile movement to the other. Something was very, very wrong with this picture.<p>

"Optimus, are you ok?" Bulkhead called out to the red and blue mech. Arcee and Bumblebee followed after, anxiety pulling at the latter's spark. There was something off about it, about everything. But what was it? The scout got his answer a klik later.

"Why did he call me that?" That couldn't be the voice of his leader, his hero…no, it couldn't be. Bumblebee tried denying it, tried to get the thought out of his processor, but to no avail. That was definitely Optimus Prime over there, that was definitely his voice, and he was definitely telling the truth. For once in his entire lifestream, he wished that Prime could and would lie to them.

"What did you do to him?" Arcee asked, venom lacing her voice. She had asked the question that Bulkhead was also thinking, but not Bumblebee. The youngest of the Autobots tried to make optic-contact with his leader, a different question on his processor: _What happened to you?_

"Who are they?" Bumblebee swore that his spark broke then and there. Optimus Prime, his leader, his mentor, his father figure, had just…denied the last few thousand years of existence. If he were human, he would be crying out in fear and pain. This couldn't be happening again!

It almost hurt worse than Raf. Bumblebee loved his human like a little brother, but Optimus had been there for nearly all of his life. It was Optimus who found him in the demolished Youth Sectors, the one who raised him as a sparkling, the one he sought comfort from after memory purges or Decepticon raids. Having such a figure look him in the optics and ask of who he was hurt like nothing else before. He'd gladly have his voice modulator crushed a second time than live through this pain.

He had been through so much with the Autobot leader…how could it all go away just like that? Didn't it mean anything to him? Bumblebee clenched his servos, not out of anger towards the Prime, but out of guilt and self-loathing. Maybe, just maybe, if he had done something better, then Optimus would have his memories. Maybe it was his fault Optimus was like this.

"Our mortal enemies," Megatron said, shocking Bee out of his thoughts, "we're outnumbered. Go, I'll cover you."

Bumblebee didn't realize that he'd been shot at until his faceplate met the floor. He barely registered Megatron shooting at them, only focusing on Optimus walking through the Ground Bridge…the wrong Ground Bridge.

Arcee and Bulkhead dodged, returning fire when they could. Bumblebee laid on the floor of the spark chamber, optics trained on the retreating figure of Optimus Prime. He tried to get back on his pedes, but a sharp pain in his side prevented him from getting further than his knee joints. Suddenly, Optimus looked back…directly at him. This was his shot, if he could make everything right…

But doing so without a voice was nearly impossible. If he were back on Cybertron, he'd probably be shunned for being mute. Nobody wanted to be near, let alone be friends with a defective bot. Bumblebee gave it his best, optics looking desperately into Prime's, searching for some semblance of familiarity, security.

"_Please, don't leave us." _Bee beeped. For less than a nanosec, Optimus seemed to consider the scout's "words." Hope flooded Bee's spark, but left just as quickly when Optimus turned away, running through the Ground Bridge.

'_Running away from his memories…'_ the scout thought sadly. Anger overtook him as Megatron's fusion cannon fired at them once again. Pushing back the pain, Bumblebee climbed to his pedes, trying his best to get a good shot at the Decepticon leader. Before he could take it, Megatron ran through the Ground Bridge, abandoning the Autobots until Ratchet could get them out.

"_Primus, not again!"_ he beeped loudly, punching the walls of the spark chamber. He didn't care about how much damage he did to himself, the overwhelming pain in his spark overrode all of his physical pain.

"Bee, you have to calm down now!" Arcee shouted, pinning the yellow mech on the ground. Her demeanor lightened as she watched her friend struggle weakly against her hold. She knew the scout had more than enough strength to throw her off and continue taking out his emotions on the walls. The fact that he wasn't even trying was disconcerting. It only meant one thing:

Bumblebee had given up.

Bulkhead watched the scene play out, concerned for his friend. Optimus' betrayal hit hard for him, but he knew it must have completely obliterated Bee's spirit. He knew how strong their "father-son" relationship was and Bee had to be in agonizing pain emotionally. But…even he had not anticipated this reaction. He thought Bee would be beyond furious and try to go after Megatron a second time. He thought Bee would jump through the Ground Bridge before it closed, or at least try to before he or Arcee grabbed him. He didn't expect the dead look in the youngling's optics, the complete submission to Arcee, or how depressed he looked at the moment.

Arcee got off Bee in shock, offering a servo to the scout to help him up. To her (and Bulkhead's) surprise, he denied it and tried to get up himself, not having much luck. Bulkhead decided to intervene and pulled the youngling to his feet, noticing a little bit of energon leaking from Bee's side. Before he could say anything, Bee pushed off of him and walked a few feet away from the other two. Bulkhead shot Arcee a worried glance right as the Autobot Ground Bridge opened before them. Bumblebee hesitated before walking through, Arcee and Bulkhead catching up to him.

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><p>The moon shone brightly in the sky, casting its light down on the Nevada desert below. Clouds occasionally passed in front of it, but never for very long. Desert clouds…a bit of an oxymoron. Bumblebee looked up at the lunar sphere, sitting atop the base. He desperately tried to clear his processor of what happened, but the event just kept playing and re-playing through his CPU. Anytime he stopped it, Tyger Pax would replace it. Every time he stopped that, the Youth Sectors would come in. When he decided to stop that, it went back to amnesiac Optimus Prime looking him in the optics and denying he knew of his existence.<p>

"_Does Primus just enjoy fragging me over?"_ He asked bitterly. Early, he had screamed in frustration and pain, actually _screamed_, for the first time in hundreds of stellar cycles. The little progress that had been made on his voice modulator was all for naught, as he blew it out in seconds. He retreated to roof of the base, avoiding Ratchet's wrath and the rest of the team. For now, Bee just wanted to be alone and mull it all over.

Yet, at the same time, he wanted comfort, he wanted to talk to someone and get it all out. He wanted someone there to encourage him, give him the strength and motivation to fight again. He needed Optimus. Groaning, Bee clutched his helm. All of this was getting him nowhere, only running him into the ground and depositing him in a deeper hole than from where he started.

"You know, screaming your processor out probably wasn't the best idea you've had." Bumblebee jumped a bit, door wings fluttering, as Arcee approached him. She sat down next to him before continuing, "Ratchet's not too happy about that."

"_I don't care."_ he beeped back. Unbeknownst to him, Arcee caught the anger creeping out under the sadness and guilt.

"Bee, I know you're upset, but there's nothing we can do right now," she said calmly.

"_Don't you think I know that?"_ he shouted back, making Arcee jump. _"Primus, I wish we could have done something, but no. Why do things like this always happen to us, to me? I hate this so much! First Raf, now Optimus…why? Just…why?"_ The sadness in his "voice" and optics was so intense, it scared her a lot.

"It's more than that, isn't there?" she asked, before adding, "And no avoiding the question Bee. Remember the whole Starscream incident? You didn't tell me everything that was bothering you that day. You never tell us anything from before Earth. Bee, it's not healthy to keep all that stuff bottled up, you've got to let it go once in a while. I know what happened at Tyger Pax and I know that you're the last of our kind, but you're not a Prime, Bee. You're a kid and you shouldn't have to deal with half the stuff you have. Now tell me, what's going on in that processor of yours?" For a few seconds, there was silence. Arcee sighed and nearly got up to leave, but Bumblebee finally spoke up.

"…_Everything…" _Bumblebee could feel his walls completely shattering, there was no stopping now. _"You know about the Youth Sectors. There were so many bodies and I can't help but see those sparklings in our human friends. Humans are just so delicate…they shouldn't be a part of this. And then there was all the Unicron scrap we had to deal with and now Optimus too! Our leader has no memory of us and he's with the Decepticons and worst, he trusts Megatron! Really, things couldn't get much worse…or I could be dead wrong and Megatron decides to attack the base or something. Actually, things could get a lot worse."_

"Bee," Arcee started softly, but was cut off by the scout.

"_Primus Arcee, we're helpless. I feel like I should be doing something, anything to help with the current situation, but I can't and don't know what to do. It feels like Tyger Pax all over again…well, at least its aftermath. I guess the difference is that nobody's making fun of me for being mute. I know I didn't let it show that much, but it really did hurt, especially when Jazz made that comment to me. Wow, my lifestream is really messed up. It's a wonder I'm not an insane killing machine like Blitzwing or trigger-happy like Ironhide."_

"Bumblebee, don't say that about yourself." Arcee commanded sternly, "I know you would never kill another Cybertronian in cold energon, even if they were a Decepticon. Bee, I know you…you're kind, energetic, and innocent. You should have never been dragged into this war and I can't describe how sorry I am for you. All of this is the most taxing on you, the kid. You grew up too fast, Bee, and you know it. Primus, you should be worrying about winning a race between your friends, not about Decepticons enslaving the humans." She sighed. Both fell silent under the desert night, each processor occupied with different thoughts and questions. Yet, there was one question they shared.

"_What happens now?"_ Bumblebee sighed, raising his helm to the Earth's moon. Arcee shook her head and stood up. There was nothing else she could tell her friend now. No, he was her brother, they were family and they all had to stay together. They needed to stay strong. But for now, Bee needed to sort out his emotions alone. She had been the same after Tailgate off-lined. Bumblebee needed his space. After that, they could work out the comfort part.

"If you need to talk, I'll be inside." She replied, leaving the youngling to his own thoughts. This was nothing like the last time they talked. They had lost someone, an important someone, this time around. She knew Bumblebee was, by far, the most affected. Optimus had been a father to him…and to lose him in such a way after the trauma the youngling had already been through was devastating.

Still, Arcee kept her word. She walked away, entering the Autobot base.

Bumblebee continued scanning the stars for something, anything. He couldn't help but blame himself for not trying hard enough. He never tried hard enough. But what else could he do? He was a youngling, a kid. He pushed himself to his limits, desperately trying to reach the same level of maturity and skill as the older Autobots had before him. Usually, he could be incredibly mature, masking youth with seriousness.

But now, he felt like a helpless sparkling. It was like the Youth Sectors all over again. Bumblebee clenched his servos. No, he was not a helpless little kid. He was an Autobot, the scout, the youngling. He was hope for the future of Cybertron. He was the last youngling and he would turn the war in the Autobots' favor.

Transforming into his alt.-mode, Bumblebee sped off of the plateau and down the street. Putting all of his sensors on-edge, he drove off into the night. The Dark Energon still in his systems drew him to the largest active deposit within the vicinity…which was Megatron's spark. Determined, he increased his speed, following the slight tug within his circuitry.

Bumblebee would find the Nemisis. He would find Optimus Prime's location and return to the others with the news. He would find his father figure. He would reunite the Autobot family. He would maintain his role as "the kid," the future, the source of hope.

For he was Bumblebee: the little brother of the Autobots.


End file.
